The 9th Fire Protection District is asking residents in both the Sun and Bush areas to vote for the 35-mill rate, which is 5.88 mills lower than people living in the Sun area pay now. Residents in the Bush area would see no change in their tax rate, as those residents currently pay 35 mills.

The 35-mill tax would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $87.50 per year, while the owner of a $200,000 house would pay $437.50. The owner of a home valued at $75,000 or less would pay nothing, per the state's homestead exemption.

For Sun residents, that's a corresponding savings of $14.70 or $73.50, depending on the value of their homes.

Though the millages for fire protection in the parish's northeastern corner aren't yet set to expire, Chief Scott Brewer said he wanted to request the new millage as soon as possible after the separate districts serving those areas merged Jan. 1. The 9th district absorbed the 10th district, which served Sun and struggled for years with manpower and administration issues.

The former 10th district has three separate millages that total 40.88 mills, all of which would be erased should the new millage pass, Brewer said. And though it is considered a new tax, the election merely serves as an early renewal for the people in Bush, he said.

The millage is expected to generate $585,000 per year for the next 20 years and serve as the district's primary revenue source, covering salaries, operations, maintenance, buildings and training, according to the text of the proposition on the ballot. The remaining money in the district's annual $630,000 budget comes from insurance rebates and revenue sharing with the state, he said. The district also receives grant revenue to help with expenses, he said.

Brewer noted that the district will undergo a reassessment of its fire rating this summer, and he hopes that the combined district will move from a Class 4 to a Class 3 rating, which, in turn, would lower insurance rates for homeowners by 8 to 12 percent. When the two districts merged, the Sun department immediately went from a Class 5 to a Class 4, he said.

The merger from two districts into one has been smooth, with improved response times, more firefighters on duty and more equipment readily available, Brewer said.

Officials nearly scuttled the election, as the U.S. Department of Justice has yet to formally approve plans to hold it. Whenever precinct lines change, which happened as a result of the merger, the agency must sanction the changes in accordance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bans racial discrimination with regard to voting practices.

Both St. Tammany Parish Registrar of Voters M. Dwayne Wall and Jacques Berry, spokesman for the Louisiana Secretary of State's office, said Monday that the election will take place as scheduled. Should the Justice Department's approval for the election come past that date, it likely would be accepted on a retroactive basis, Berry said.